QR codes are a fantastic tool to provide online information
to mobile consumers. No longer just a
marketing gimmick, when used properly QR codes provide a quick and effective
engagement with your brand. Follow these
rules to provide the best user experience and maximize credibility with your
tech-savvy customer. How do you use QR
codes? Do you follow these rules?
1.
Make it
easy. Put a QR code where it can be
readily scanned. Give them an incentive
to scan. Gaining knowledge/info is
enough incentive; you don’t necessarily have to bribe them. But you can.
Tell them what’s going to happen, or what they’re going to get when they
scan the code. Put this in a message
surrounding the code. Encourage them to
scan, then don’t waste their time with irrelevancy.
2.
Make it
quick. People don’t want to wait all
day. Give them a simple/quick landing
page and tell them what they want to know.
Let them decide if they want to download a video or hi-res pictures, musical
slideshow or a vcard. Don’t force it on
them. Not everyone has unlimited
bandwidth, or the worlds fastest 4G phone.
Don’t link qr codes to pdf files,
let them choose what they want to download.
3.
Optimize
the code for scanning. Size matters!
Make it large enough to scan easily, minimize (shorten) the content so the code
is less dense and easily printed on materials that don’t support high
resolution (like newsprint). There is a
minimum size, at which point the code will no longer scan. Make sure the color contrast is optimal
(black/white is best) for scanning in all types of lighting. Eliminate gloss, reduce glare where
practical. Test the ability to scan the
code before printing it thousands of times.
4.
Use a
phone-friendly landing page. Most QR
codes will be scanned with phones.
Linking them to a website that’s not easily viewed on a phone, or has
links too small to click with fingers, is just a waste of your customer’s
time. You can provide a link to a
desktop site, they can save it and view later on a tablet or desktop. Think of a mobile website as providing
“drive-thru” information. Minimal,
quick, fast. If they want a sit-down
meal, they can go to your desktop site later.
5.
Leverage
mobile communications capability. Provide
phone friendly, mobile connection options.
Click to call, click to email, click to map. Make it easy for people to further
engage. Most phones have built-in
features to share, but some folks don’t know how to use them. So in the short term, you may want to include
“forward to a friend” buttons to encourage them to share information, even with
themselves, back at their own desk.
6.
Be open
to Change. The world is constantly
changing. Don’t make your QR code
static. Encode a URL that can be easily redirected to a different location, or
make a mobile site that can be easily updated.
Encourage repeat interaction by keeping the content updated and
relevant. Provide daily specials, updated
information. Nobody wants “old
news”. If it’s not current, it’s not
relevant. If it’s not easy to change, it
won’t be current.
7.
Track it,
measure it, test it, improve it.
Multiple QR codes can link to the same mobile website. Use different codes to see what/where
customers scan. Signs, ads, vehicles can
all have different codes leading to the same information. Which source gets the most scans? Using a QR code system with built in tracking
and statistics can tell you where you get the most results for your money. You can even see what happens once the person
has scanned the code. Did they view more
detailed information? Did they
click-to-call? Use QR codes that allow
you to measure your results. You can
then adjust things accordingly.
8.
QR codes
are ugly. Get used to it. They weren’t designed to be pretty, they were
designed to quickly link to encoded information. If you want to spice them up,
that’s ok. Just remember they were
designed for optimal information transfer, by engineers who know what they were
doing. Anything artsy you do to
“improve” their design has the capability of reducing, not necessarily
increasing, their effectiveness. If you
change it, be careful, and test it in less-than-optimal scanning conditions.
9.
QR codes
are not just for advertising. That
wasn’t their original intent. Marketers have hijacked and abused them. QR codes are designed to link to information,
period. Practically any kind of
information. User manuals, emergency
contact information, recipes. Anything
you put online can be linked by a qr code.
Even funny cat pictures. It’s ok
to use them for other purposes. Be creative.
10.
Don’t look dumb. QR codes have been around for years. If you don’t know how to use them properly,
consider not using them at all. You’ll just end
up irritating your customer prospect, and above all you’ll look like an idiot
OMG, LOL, :) :) :). Be smarter than a Fifth Grader, and if
you’re not, don’t be afraid to ask one.
Otherwise, you're conditioning consumers to think QR codes are a waste of time.
